episode_0200

What should I talk about?

How should I treat her?

A victim who lost her body because of me.

A monster that has slaughtered countless people.

The strongest being among those I can rely on.

However, it is a wild beast that should never be set free.

Someone who holds a grudge against me… A housemate who should be with me.

All of it came together to form the person named Hershela.

Although I needed Hershela, I felt uncomfortable.

However, unless you can reject her forever… I must somehow understand and accept her.

“… Why did you do such a cruel thing?”

However, after much thought, what came out of my mouth was an impulsive question.

1 The tragedy that occurred in the garden of the prince’s palace.

I wanted to know why he did such a thing and what he was thinking.

[Is the first thing you said to me just a question like that? This is so pathetic. ]

Hershela’s voice was a mixture of contempt and mockery.

“That’s… .”

[Well, it’s good. If you’re really curious, there’s nothing I can’t answer… . Why did you do that? Of course, it was because it was necessary. It was because of you, who made me feel embarrassed like a woman and was treated like a fool. ]

“It was necessary? Do you do something like that? … Because of me?”

[ okay. Would human meat be sweet to me? However, since you gave yourself up to the ghost sword, if you hadn’t done that, there would have been no chance of victory. If I had been defeated, would you have been able to breathe freely now? ]

… … .

There was nothing to refute.

If only she had lost… When I woke up again, I would have felt like my life had completely ended.

If you look at that alone, she was like a lifesaver to me. Since she and I share a shared destiny, even if I had no choice but to help.

[So don’t you dare think of questioning me about that kind of thing. It’s all because you’re weak. You’re a fool who took someone else’s body and doesn’t even know how to use it properly, so all you do is destroy it. Let me tell you, every time I see you fight, I feel like I’m going to die of frustration. ]

“… Was I that bad at fighting? Still, so far… .”

Well, the strange skills Hersela showed that day were things I could never have imagined.

Because I had no idea that the power of killing could be handled in that way.

Still, I fought hard, and I was confident that my overall record was good… .

[Shut up. I feel like I’m going to explode with anger. ]

I guess Hershela didn’t feel it.

Fierce frustration and anger flooded my mind.

[It is good that he devoted himself to swordsmanship after realizing that his skills were lacking. It wasn’t a bad thing to realize your own karma and defeat the Great Warrior. But in the end, they are nothing more than a foundation just built in the middle of nowhere. What do you think is the power that gave you your name and the root of the strength you have enjoyed so far? ]

… It’s a living job.

A vicious force that becomes stronger by slaughtering innocent people.

That was an undeniable fact.

[The fastest way to become stronger is right in front of you, so why do you ignore it? What was the reason, foolishly, for taking a shortcut and deliberately going back so far? Are you not afraid of the blood of beasts and monsters, but are you afraid of seeing human blood? ]

Hershela let out a fierce sarcasm.

[No, that’s probably not it. Because I’m not a kid who has never killed anyone. The village that was on fire, didn’t you have fun there too? Still, I liked it quite a bit at the time. ]

That’s because the other person was a villain.

Criminals who need to be erased. It was a completely different thing from killing innocent people.

“So you want me to slaughter thousands of innocent people like you? And then at the end, he goes crazy and dies?”

This is unacceptable advice.

The path presented by Hershela. Because I know very well what the ending is.

[ Did you care about what that priestess said? The words of a foolish woman full of blindness and contradiction? As a warrior, you must stay away from magic and martial arts. ]

“… I am not a warrior of Ka’har. Journal of the Empire.”

[The horse is Cheongsanyusu. It’s not like I’m loyal to the empire. And, I have never killed thousands of people with my own hands. In what period of time will it be possible to kill that number one by one? ]

What is he saying now.

Before I was called a beast-eater, the most famous thing about me was that I was the slayer of thousands of Danes.

“Every time they see the work you have accumulated, everyone says that.”

[It’s an illusion. It’s just that in order for others to accumulate this level of murder, that much blood is needed. I am different. The number I personally killed… At most it won’t exceed a thousand. ]

“… Thousands or thousands. What’s the difference?”

Is a terrorist who killed 5 people twice as good as a terrorist who killed 10 people?

In essence, there is no difference at all.

[Efficiency is different. Can’t you even understand that? When others kill ten, I can build up equal power by killing only two. So, is there any way to become stronger faster than this? ]

efficiency.

Her slaughter of people could only be explained in those two words.

With the sense of an athlete looking for a better diet, she carried out the killings with aplomb.

Feeling a strange feeling that made me shudder, I unconsciously clenched my fists and trembled.

“They commit such a thing just for the sake of efficiency… ?”

[Do you think this is wrong? What makes me different from you? People live by eating livestock and converting them into blood and flesh. The knights of the empire gained strength by slaughtering monsters and beasts to become stronger. You did that too. I ask you, then what makes them different from me? ]

“Are you going to justify what you have done with such sophistry? Monsters and beastmen are enemies that attack people! You don’t kill to become stronger, you become stronger as a result of blocking!”

I couldn’t stop the anger and passion in my voice. Fortunately, it wasn’t loud enough to echo outside the hospital room.

The more I talked to her, the more disgust I felt.

[They also attack me when they see me? Even if I don’t attack first. Westerners are innocent to you, not to me. ]

“That’s because you are a massacre! They have been unilaterally plundering and slaughtering those who had no power to fight back, so how can they say they are the same as us?”

It was like a hedonistic serial killer taunting a soldier, saying that you and I are both murderers.

Of course, there is a gap between them as big as a death row and a death row.

[Do you spare the lives of monsters weaker than yourself? Did the priestess say she would show mercy to the baby beastman? ]

“… … .”

The way of thinking itself was different from mine.

To the point where I thought it might be impossible for me to understand her.

For someone who doesn’t even distinguish between humans and monsters, what’s the point of talking about human morality?

[You can’t answer. Then there would be nothing to refute. The difference between you and us is actually not that big. Hmm, I see. Is this what it feels like to win an argument? It’s kind of fun. ]

Hershela sneered lightly, perhaps taking my silence as submission.

I didn’t even feel like retorting.

“… Lastly, let me ask you two questions. Is that okay?”

[Tell me as much as you want. You are still nothing more than a robber who will tear and kill, but my conversation with you was quite interesting. Please show me special mercy. ]

It was a boastful tone.

“To you, what is human life?”

[To feed. ]

At this point, I gave up on any emotional connection with her.

This was not a human being, but something closer to a carnivore.

“Why did you try to become stronger so quickly?”

[ Revenge. ]

… plural?

Surprisingly, the motivation was more human than expected.

In other words, it’s a motive that doesn’t suit her.

“If you don’t even see people as people, whose revenge are you going to take?”

Hershela was silent for a moment, then blurted out her words as if she didn’t feel like it.

[ … It’s none of your business. I’ve already answered both questions, so know that that’s enough. ]

It seemed like he had no intention of telling me.

Even without hearing the answer, I had a rough guess.

The only person this woman was close enough to swear revenge for was her mother.

It was obvious just by looking at the fact that he carried his mother’s sword, which was not recognized as its owner and could not instill killing power, until it broke.

[ On the other hand, I ask you, who on earth are you? Judging by his words and actions, he must not be Ka’har, but is he an imperial shaman? ]

What is a shaman?

“… I was just a soldier. I woke up and suddenly found myself in someone else’s body.”

There was no reason to explain in detail.

Even if I had to explain it to them, they wouldn’t understand or believe it.

[A soldier. Considering that he didn’t even know how to use a sword, he must have been a lowly soldier at best. It’s stupid. As a girl who doesn’t know anything about swordsmanship, she wants to become a soldier instead of a knight. You won’t see a very good ending. ]

Did you think I was a woman? ?

I wondered if I should correct her misunderstanding… I eventually quit.

If she found out that the person who had been treating her body as if it were his for half a year was actually a man, she could be filled with shame.

To be honest, I doubted whether this woman really had such feelings.